MTV developing spoof of 'High School Musical'

MTV’s next target: scripted comedy.

The cable network is developing an unprecedented number of scripted half-hour projects, including a parody of Disney's "High School Musical."

“We’re going to apply the same tenets of creativity and genre-busting to scripted comedy that ‘Laguna Beach’ used to makeover the documentary,” said MTV head of programming Tony DiSanto. “It makes sense as a progression for us when a lot of our shows like ‘Run’s House’ and ‘The Hills’ look scripted to start going forward with actual scripted shows.”

The projects include a 20-episode series order for a new animated series called “DJ and the Fro” (about two office drones who swap viral videos while surrounded by office mayhem) and a quintet of pilots (not all of which have closed deals). The pilots are a mix of live action and animated projects, with three set in high school and two based on existing online Web series.

One idea sure that’s sure to get some headlines if greenlit is “Private High Musical," based on an online series of the same name that produced raunchy versions of high school shows (clip below).

“I’ve always been an avid musical fan, and when Disney’s ‘High School Musical’ became this big phenomenon, I thought it was funny that nobody ever did a musical that told how high school really was,” said creator Taryn Southern.

Another pilot writer-actor Dan Levy’s “Long Distance Relationship,” which is based on a Crackle.com Web series from Sony, is about a high school couple who went to separate colleges and are now conducting a relationship via Webcam. While “Popzilla” is a half-hour sketch comedy pilot that lampoons celebrity news and gossip.

The projects are part of MTV’s plan to produce non-traditional scripted shows that break the mold in terms of their unique content as well as using a more streamlined development process. Though MTV has dabbled in scripted shows, the current surge began with the on-air series “College Humor,” which has been a cost-effective vehicle that’s helped dip a toe into scripted comedy.  

Some of the projects came out of “tape day,” where executives were challenged to find a potential program through non-traditional means -- such as an existing Internet series. For “Popzilla,” for instance, MTV drew up a very simple contract and gave writer Dave Thomas (“SCTV,” “Arrested Development”) some seed money on speculation to produce an idea. The turnaround process took weeks, say MTV executives, instead of the usual months.

“It’s saying, ‘go prove us the idea’ and seeding it with some money upfront rather than doing a longform deal with every deal point in place,” says Liz Gately, MTV’s senior vp of series development.  “We’re moving more toward a ‘proof is in the tape’ model.”

"Private School Musical" creator Southern (who's repped by ICM, managed by Brad Marks and attorney Matthew Wallerstein) shot her Web series in only a few days, then was approached by MTV a couple months later. 60 Frames is on board as the production company.

"Things are changing so much you don’t need a million dollar budget, you can just use a video camera from Best Buy," she said.

Two other pilots are “Hard Times,” written by Seth Grahame-Smith and produced by David Katzenberg (son of Jeffrey) about a well-endowed high school geek whose social status is greatly improved after accidentally exposing himself at a basketball game; and “Who’s Your Daddy?” from Les Firestein (“The Drew Carey Show”), an animated comedy about the multi-cultural adopted kids of a celebrity couple.
MTV’s development department always been prolific in recent years, but executives say the current lineup has more pilots in production than any other time in the network’s history. And there’s no limit to how many might go on the air.

“We’re not developing for slots,” DiSanto said. “If we make 25 pilots and like them we’ll greenlight them all and then figure out where to put them. It’s about finding balance across the board and doing storytelling in different ways that appeal to our viewers.”

Here's a peak at the original online version of "Private High Musical":